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Childermas

American  
[chil-der-muhs] / ˈtʃɪl dər məs /

noun

Chiefly British.
  1. Holy Innocents' Day.


childermas British  
/ ˈtʃɪldəˌmæs /

noun

  1. archaic Holy Innocents Day, Dec 28

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Childermas

before 1000; Middle English chyldermasse, equivalent to Old English cildra (genitive plural of cild child ) + mæsse Mass

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

On Wednesday, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, or Childermas, the dying king rouses himself sufficiently to sign the Charter of the foundation: but Edith his queen has to represent him at the consecration.

From The Children of Westminster Abbey Studies in English History by Rose Georgina Kingsley

See thou fall not hastily into the like offence, else shalt thou smart from Childermas to All-hallowtide.

From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 by John Roby

In the Prologue to the Miracle Play, Childermas Day, 1512, the minstrels are requested to 'do their diligence,' and at the end of the Play to 'geve us a daunce.'

From Shakespeare and Music With Illustrations from the Music of the 16th and 17th centuries by Edward W. (Edward Woodall) Naylor

The Confessor's Church as you will remember was consecrated on Childermas, the Holy Innocents' Day.

From The Children of Westminster Abbey Studies in English History by Rose Georgina Kingsley

Childermas, a festival to commemorate the massacre of the children by Herod.

From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by P. Austin Nuttall

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